Leafs Nazem Kadri (43) gains the Devils zone as Ericv Gelinas pursues him at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Leafs Tyler Bozak is congratulated by teammates after beating Devils Cory Schneider for his seventh goal of the season at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Leafs Tyler Bozak (42) buries the puck past Devils Cory Schneider for his seventh goal of the season at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Devils Steve Bernier (18) picks the pocket of Leafs Nazem Kadri stealing the puck from him at centre ice at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Devils Stephen Gionta (11) crashes the Leafs net as Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier searches for the puck at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Devils Andrei Loktionov (21) tries to get the puck that eludes Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Leafs Tyler Bozak (42) buries the puck past Devils Cory Schneider for his seventh goal of the season at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Devils Ryane Clowe (29) flips a puck past Jonathan Bernier to tie the game at 2-2 in the second period at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Leafs Mason Raymond (12) handcuffs Devils goalie Cory Schneider with a shot which he got a piece of during the second period at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun) Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Devils beat Bernier on a Adam Henrique goal to tie the game at 1-1 in the second period at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Leafs Tyler Bozak appears to beat Devils Cory Schneider but the goal was called back at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Leafs Mason Raymond (12) handcuffs Devils goalie Cory Schneider with a shot which he got a piece of during the second period at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Leafs Mason Raymond (12) handcuffs Devils goalie Cory Schneider with a shot which he got a piece of during the second period at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Devils Ryane Clowe (29) is congratulated by teammates after scoring in the second period to tie up the game 2-2 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Leafs James van Riemsdyk (middle) scores to put the Leafs up 2-1 in the second period and is congratulated by Phil Kessel (L) and Tyler Bozak at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, January 12, 2014. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

They played like they want their coach to keep his job in a shrugging, kinda, sorta way.

But after the Maple Leafs defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in a shootout on a rare Sunday night home game at the Air Canada Centre, forward James van Riemsdyk poured some cold water on the idea that the Leafs and Randy Carlyle are not on the same page.

“I think that’s just a cop-out when teams are struggling,” van Riemsdyk said. “Not us, but members of the media might be looking to point fingers, and we are not looking to point fingers in here.

“We have the utmost confidence in the coaching staff and what they bring to the table. As far as preparation goes, I would say we are the most prepared team with the information we get to play night in and night out.”

Still, the Leafs are a team that has turned no corner, never mind that they snapped a four-game losing streak. This is a club that has exactly four wins in regulation in 33 games since the end of October, and general manager David Nonis continues to try to make a trade to bolster a group that continues to have trouble moving the puck up the ice.

Even if a swap is consummated, there’s no quick fix, and the Leafs don’t have much choice but to try to work their way out of it.

It won’t be a simple task with a visit to Boston on Tuesday to play the Bruins, followed by a home game against the never-easy Buffalo Sabres (at least, not for the Leafs) on Wednesday and another game at the ACC on Saturday, against the Montreal Canadiens.

Certainly, the Leafs aren’t a team brimming with confidence. That’s obvious to anyone who watches for a period or two.

Mistakes still are on the agenda, and on Sunday, the Leafs were charged with 22 giveaways to the Devils’ 12.

Goaltender Jonathan Bernier had a usual ho-hum night at the office, which meant he faced 38 New Jersey shots and stopped 36 of them, another performance from the most important position that the Leafs required to emerge with a victory.

“We can breathe,” Carlyle said. “There has been a lot of gasping going on and even in this game, there was a lot of gasping, with how tight it was.”

Tyler Bozak, kicking his bout with the flu aside, scored in the first period for the Leafs, and van Riemsdyk scored in the second, after Adam Henrique had tied the game for the Devils on a power play.

The Leafs didn’t have long to protect the lead, as Ryane Clowe, with his first goal of the season, scored on a breakaway just 27 seconds after van Riemsdyk got his 17th.

Toronto thought it had a 3-2 lead midway through the second period, but referee Ghislain Hebert waived off another Bozak score after the official determined that van Riemsdyk had interfered with Devils netminder Cory Schneider.

But no such bump took place, replays showed.

Of the six shooters in the shootout, only van Riemsdyk, the first to go for either team, scored.

“A lot of things have gone against us in various points of the game and tonight they took the goal way,” Carlyle said. “We had 15 scoring chances up until that point, and for the next 12 minutes we did not get any.

“It just shows the mental state and how fragile we were at that point. Hopefully, this relieves a little of the stress that is involved for our hockey club, and get back playing to the way we are capable of playing.”

For those who have called for Carlyle to be fired, it should be remembered that few outside the organization had the Leafs as anything more than a bubble team to make the Stanley Cup playoffs.

And with 35 games remaining, that’s where the club is, as it sits ninth in the Eastern Conference with 49 points. It’s not as though the Leafs are playing wildly below expectations.

“It’s a lot more fun around the dressing room when you win. We know there is lots more work to do this week, but it feels good to get that win.”

A 'SORRY' SITUATION

James van Riemsdyk would like to hear referee Ghislain Hebert say sorry the next time the official works a Maple Leafs game.

Hebert waived off a Tyler Bozak goal midway through the second period, one that would have given the Leafs a 3-2 lead against the New Jersey Devils, after the official ruled that van Riemsdyk interfered with goalie Cory Schneider. Except replays showed that didn’t happen.

“I was very surprised,” van Riemsdyk said. “I looked at it on video between periods and I’m still kind of wondering. He gave me his thoughts, I asked him if he could watch it after the game and maybe next time we have a game he could apologize.”

The no-goal did not trip up Bozak, who had scored earlier. The Leafs’ No. 1 centre has eight points in seven games since returning to the lineup after he missed 12 games with an oblique injury. Before Bozak was hurt, he had five points in four games.

“The game happens so fast, it has to be tough for (refs) too,” Bozak said. “That is going to happen. You are going to get goals taken back, and you are going to get ones that maybe you should not have got.”